Many types of electronic communication devices provide voice communication capabilities, such as telephones, cellular telephones and walkie talkies. Generally, such devices have a handset incorporating a microphone and a speaker. The microphone takes the locally generated audible signals (e.g. a user's voice) and the speaker recreates the remotely received audible signals (e.g. the other party's voice). Electronic circuits connected to the microphone convert the locally generated audible signals into electronic signals for further processing and transmission by the device. Other electronic circuits provide the electronic signals embodying the received audible signals to the speaker. General performance parameters influence the placement of the microphone and speaker in such devices. For example, the microphone should be sufficiently isolated from interference generated from other components, but it still needs to be able to receive the locally generated audible signals.
In a typical stationary communication device (such as an office telephone) its handset is shaped such that the microphone and speaker are in a spaced relationship to each other. When the handset is properly placed near a user's face, the speaker is located near an ear of the user and the microphone is located near the user's mouth. As portability is not generally the most critical issue for a stationary device, the handset can be made large enough such that the microphone, speaker and other components can be mounted at different areas within the handset and can each operate without unacceptably interfering with each other.
Meanwhile, portable communication devices, such as cellular phones, have smaller form factors. Locating the microphone and speaker in an appropriate spaced relationship within their form factors is more difficult, because of the smaller size of the handsets and the increased density of internal components. Further, their antennae generate interfering signals for some components. As such, suitable locations for the speaker and microphones in the devices become harder to find.
There is a need for an arrangement which addresses such issues in the prior art.